Local News - Lubbock Online.com - Tech takes key role in city future

Wednesday, February 18, 1998Last modified at 1:23 a.m. on Wednesday, February 18, 1998

Tech takes key role in city future

Montford unveils plan for stronger economy

By CHRIS VAN WAGENEN

A-J Business Editor

Texas Tech Chancellor John Montford challenged the university's faculty Tuesday night to develop a working strategic plan to help create new industry and jobs for Lubbock and the surrounding area.

In jump-start fashion, Montford, a longtime advocate of economic development on the South Plains, unveiled the Center for the Study of Regional Economics and Industrial Development during a dinner at the Merket Alumni Center.

The center, a project initiated by economics professors Lewis Hill and Robert McComb, is a massive undertaking at Tech - an undertaking that will require partnerships involving faculty, industry and venture capital to address a problem that Montford said has been ignored far too long - the long-term economic well-being of Lubbock.

"This comes down to a matter of leadership, and Texas Tech needs to take it. We're all in this together," he said.

Montford said Texas Tech's future is directly linked to the health and welfare of not just Lubbock, but its surrounding neighbors.

Hill, who has studied the Lubbock economy for more than 30 years, said he's convinced Lubbock is heading into dangerous waters. "Lubbock's economy is stagnant. There are more people leaving this town than coming in. If we're going to save Lubbock and Texas Tech, we need to take some drastic action now."

Hill said the gradual phase-out of farm subsidies, coupled with ongoing changes in managed care, are a recipe for disaster.

Texas Tech's new research center will be made up of about 25 faculty members, including department chair heads and other field experts, who will recommend direct actions that can be taken based on the university's own research and intellectual property that can be used in industrial applications.

"What's around the corner for the Lubbock economy is something we all need to be concerned about," said David J. Schmidly, vice president for research and graduate studies.

Schmidly said it's time to take the university's intellectual property and put it to work in an environment that can reap huge monetary rewards for Texas Tech and the South Plains, using industry that can and will invest if given the opportunity.

"We have an empty air base (Reese Air Force Base) here that's a gold mine. The center gives us an opportunity to involve and reward our faculty," he said.

Schmidly said Reese AFB provides Texas Tech with a platform to create a commercialized incubator where new businesses, based on the university's own applied research, can be hatched.

Texas Tech President Don Haragan said the people needed most to make the center and its goals a success are the very people who have made the university what it is today. "The people that will make this happen are the faculty. We need to match their strengths with these opportunities and we need to reward them for it," he said.